United Liberty

FWIW, I am not currently using any substances outside of Excedrine and the random weekend beer.
The largest unintended consequence of the war on drugs is the growth and power granted to the cartels, traffickers, and suppliers. By keeping “illicit drugs” illicit, the system enriches exactly the wrong kind of people. The worst of the worst become more and more powerful.
Cancel the war on drugs. License some cafe’s, tax the crap out of it with the provision that the tax revenue may never be used for anything but gov’t debt service.
Stop enabling the bad guys, enable entrepreneurs.
To mitigate public outcry, redirect 1/3 of the money currently being spent on the war on drugs to prevention / treatment.
Spend 1/3 on border security. Don’t spend the rest, or use it to pay down debt.
Have a good weekend.

I agree that marijuana should be legalized and treated just like cigarettes. I think the tax on both cigarettes and marijuana should be increased to the same amount. The growers of marijuana should have to get a growing license and distribute to supermarkets, Convience stores, and liqour stores only.

“If Conservatives are for less government intervention and individual responsibility, would it not make sense to be the loudest proponents of marijuana legalization?”

Yes, it would, but you’re proceeding from a false premise. U.S. conservatives (modern-day ones, anyway) are not for less government intervention and individual responsibility. If you expect Republicans to suddenly embrace civil liberties, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

MARIJUANA SHOULD BE LEGALIZED FOR MEDICAL AND RECREATIONAL PURPOSES ITS SAFER THAN ALCOHOL AT LEAST YOU CAN FUNCTION RESPONSIBLY WHILE SMOKING MARIJUANA I HAVE BEEN A SMOKER OF MARIJUANA FOR 20 YEARS AND I HAVE RAISED 6 KIDS AND RAN A VERY RESPONSIBLE HOME WITH WELL MANNERED NON LAW BREAKING SCHOOL FINISHERS NOT DROP OUTS SO POT IS JUST AS GOOD OR BETTER THAN ALCOHOL AND ITS LEGAL AND DANGEROUS.MARIJUANA IS GROWN FROM A SEED PLANTED IN THE GROUND NO ADDITIVES JUST PLANT AND GROW YOU HAVE TO BREW BEER AND ANY OTHER DRUG THATS WHY MARIJUANA IS NOT A DRUG IT IS GROWN FROM A SEED AND PICKED DRIED AND SMOKED A PLANT STRAIGHT FROM GOD AS ANY AND ALL PLANTS SEEDS DIRT WATER PLANTS PICK SMOKE WHATS ILLEGAL ABOUT THAT NOTHING AT ALL. PUT 100 PEOPLE IN A ROOM TO SMOKE MARIJUANA, 100 PEOPLE DRINKING ALCOHOL AND THEN GIVE MULTIPLE TASKS AND I GUARANTEE YOU THE SMOKERS ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO THEIR TASKS BUT THE 100 WHO DRANK THE PINTS OF LIQUOR WILL NOT LEGALIZE MARIJUANA

With the fines and parole fees to be paid each month for about 5 years our gov. makes money on mary J bust. Thats the “outside” thing they are discussing. As MJ using have always known, they don’t want you they just want your money. Plus they get to keep all your property they confiscate locally. BTW gov. will never reduce itself no matter what.

It should be legalized. Let American farmers grow it or allow people to buy a permit to grow their own. You could limit the number of plants to say 12 per permit issued. Place a 100% tax on any Marijuana cigarettes sold at stores. No current Marijuana smoker I know would object to that. Try doing that with cigarettes and alcohol and those users would sh*t their pants. Many of our foundindg forefathers grew hemp which is a cousin of the Marijuana plant. If those same men of greatness tried to grow the same size crop now they would be in prison for life. Besides if you legalize it you would be taking it out of the hands of gang bangers who commit to drive by shootings and killings just like the mob did when alcohol was under prohibition. You could make the law so that you would have to be 21 years old (same as alcohol) and have the same offenses in place if someone gave it to a minor. Marijauna could help people with glaucoma, eating disorders, pain management, and help those who go through chemotherapy for cancer and wind up being so sick and nausea sets in that they can’t even eat. Plus the fibers from the stalk of the plant could probably be used just like the Hemp plant to make clothing made by American clothing companies as opposed to buying clothes made in China.

I’m getting my garden ready ! YAY !! I have a family history of alcohol abuse, so I very much prefer smoking pot to drinking - alcohol is much more addictive (and for me, scary, so i tend to stay away from it) and makes you lose physical control - pot does not. Many of my friends smoke too, none of whom have suffered any ill effects from it. Meanwhile, prisons are full of some 20 million people convicted on marijuana charges - these laws impinge upon our personal liberty and destroy lives and families. Not only can the resources committed to marijuana be reassigned to combat the harder, more addictive drugs that really are a problem, but you’d probably see the deficit shrink due to the tax income on legally marketed joints.

Until there is a cure… The most compelling reason to decriminalize the use or possession on ANY substance is simple. Only a small but significant proportion of users will become chemically addicted. Addiction can only occur when a neuroregulator is defective - due to hereditary factors. For everyone else, use is a matter of choice that can be shaped and regulated through taxation and licensing regulations that are much more fair, humane and safe than indiscriminate incarceration. Most users in prison are not even “addicts” they just got caught incidentally, even though they are not chemically susceptible to compulsive addiction.

People who are susceptible are completely defenseless - the defective neuroregulator will not shut down until massive amounts of the target drug have been consumed - and the person’s entire conscious mind is harnessed to keep seeking out the drug until that happens. Those addicts must be treated with blocking agents or their lives and the lives of those around them will be devastated. Perhaps it made sense to incarcerate users indiscriminately before we understood the chemical nature of addiction, but today that is tantamount to locking up grandmothers with heart faire because they can’t stop eating salty pickles. Most of the “pickle addicts” turn out to be anemic, and they stop craving gherkins when the chemical impetus is treated. There is plenty of work for everyone in the current addiction treatment cottage industry to detect, assess and monitor the results of medical treatment for addiction. Otherwise, even the 0.8% of the population that is hereditarily chemically addicted to alcohol will continue to sap the economy for at least $120 Billion annually for residential and prison stays at the bottom line rate of $50,000 annually per untreated alcoholic. Even at the outside rate of $8 Billion for medical treatment we cannot afford to divert our attention away from using the treatments we have already and finding even more detoxification effective treatments for alcohol and other drug dependence. Is there anyone out there listening?

Thanks for all the comments everyone, it is important to get the conversation going about marijuana law reform. Many, many, many have not even given this a second thought. A friend’s dad (among others I know) simply wrote me off as a ‘pot-head.’ I have never smoked pot. What does matter is that the war on drugs has had so many negative consequences, and we will never ‘win’ the war.

I like the comment about how this has caused such crime. With the huge markup due to it’s illegality, marijuana is like gold. Dealing it can allow someone to make hundreds of thousands a month if they so choose. This is the root of much crime.

-David Carlson
http://www.davidcarlsonpolitics.com

As a recreational user of Marijuana.
All I can really say is Legalize it.

I live in a State that already has Decriminalization of Marijuana.
In my State it is still Illegal to Possess Marijuana, But you can have 100grams.
These 100grams are of course confinscated but the onlu penalty is a Citation for $100.00.

This doesn’t go on your criminal record and can be paid by waiver.

My contention is that there is no recreational use of marijuana. Marijuana is used to treat stress. It is used to treat numerous diseases. It has a 5 thousand year written history of use for the treatment of disease. Our bodies have enndocannibinoids everywhere including the brain. And, probably the most widespread use is to grow new neurons to replace those damaged or killed by mercury and lead poisoning; some pesticides and food additives also contribute to neuron death. Lets get our act together; marijuana good prohibiton bad. The truth is out there.

I say all supporters of legalization should gather in the 20 biggest cities in America on July 4th, 2009 and let the nation know we will no longer be ignored, that we the people of America demand legalization, were tired of having our lives ruined over something that is our choice, and safer than the legal alternatives out there. Were are people, not animals, we are not violent and do not belong in cages, nor do we deserve to lose everything we have worked so hard for!

7/04/2009 America stand up for freedom of choice

It is not still safe to consider Marijuana as a safe substance. Many are still using this in an abusive way that usually causes destructive effect to people. Legalizing thing kind of addictive substance will just cause for many to destroy their future. Along with his more liberal counterpart Rick Sanchez, Glenn Beck deals with doomsday scenario coverage. He has been on a “Barack Obama will destroy America” binge for a while. One would think he would suggest getting personal loans to stockpile firearms and run to the hills. The alarmist media has been growing over the last few years, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. A lot of us would give a no fax cash advance to get Glenn Beck and the growing Chicken Little cabal to pipe down.

To get this issue rolling we have to get on the t.v. all the time.Not just few sporadic interviews with geraldo or keith olberman.The main stream media needs to be on board with it so they can use their resources to get the actual truth out.

i also agree with the statement earlier about all people gatherin on a certain date to tell these money sucking politicians that it our choice not theres.What a women can havr the choice to abort a fetus but we cannot recreationally smoke pot without fear of losing our job to the grug screening nazis (employers,unions, and the department of justice and so on)

I am just really sick and tired of people thinking they know what is good for me or what is not good form.If I need anybodies opinion i will ask for it.Please we need to all get together all 20 to 30 million of us and get these clowns out of office and replace them with like minded candiates of our choosing.To hell with democrat or republican.I want my GOD given rights back……

sorry for the rant but I am really fed up and I hope lobbyist for the legalization of CANNIBAS will pound the hell out of every legislator both state and federal out there